Barnes & Noble cutting Nook tablet prices

NEW YORK (AP) - Barnes & Noble Inc. says it's reducing by $20 the price for its less-expensive model Nook tablet computer, undercutting by that amount the rival Kindle Fire sold by Amazon.com.

The biggest U.S. traditional book retailer said Sunday it's cutting the price for the 8-gigabyte model Nook tablet to $179 from the current $199. The Kindle Fire, with 6 gigabytes of memory, sells for $199. Barnes & Noble also announced a $50 reduction, to $199 from $249, for its 16-gigabyte Nook tablet.

It was the latest turn in the tablet wars, as Apple's iPad and the iOS system running it continue to dominate the market for tablets despite growing competition, and Microsoft prepares to launch a tablet based on Windows in October.

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